A woman who was left a quadriplegic in an auto accident has been cleared by the court to sue a coworker who yanked her from the car fearing it was going to catch on fire. Now if that doesn't warm the heart, I don't know what does. Apparently the injured woman claims that her coworker "yanked her like a rag doll" from the wreckage, making her injury worse. Clearly this sends several messages. 1. When fearing a vehicle is about to burst in to flames you should get the person trapped inside to sign a waiver agreeing not to sue you. Should the car burst into flames you can expect to be sued for allowing the victim to turn into a human roasted marshmallow. Either way, you could be fucked.
2. Doing the "right" thing can cost you big time.
3. Nice people really do finish last.
4. You can sue people for anything in this country, and win!
It's not hard to imagine the horror of being left paralyzed. My first wife's brother was a quad, paralyzed from the shoulders down in a high school football game back in the 70's. I have personally witnessed the type of life a person like that is left with, and it ain't pretty. That said, this is a clear case of a bitter person lashing out at anyone available, consumed by an understandable bitterness over their lot in life. In my opinion, the recent decision by the California Supreme Court is as wrong as Michael Jackson taking a doggy bag home from a bris. (think about it).
One would hope that this decision won't set off a domino effect of bitter, or greedy ingrates, suing the very people who took the time to save their lives, but of course that's exactly what's going to happen. It reminds me of the joke where a young boy is walking through the park with his gramps. They come across two dogs , one mounting the other. The boy asks his gramps, what they are up to. The old man answers that the dog on top has an injured leg, and the one on bottom is helping him get home. To which the boy responds " Just goes to show you, try to help someone out and they fuck you every time."
Fortunately this ruling probably won't keep people from helping others in dire straits. At the end of the day, most people won't hesitate to come to the aid of others. There will always be the lower life forms who ignore the guy laying in the street, or pretend they don't see the bully who man handles his wife in the grocery store parking lot. But by and large, most people just react, do what it takes, with no thought about the negative impact it could have on them.
that's why i am surprised when there is a call "is there a doctor here" someone actually steps up. there have been lawsuits against these doctors
ReplyDeletesorry, this was my comment,I added another account to get more photo storage
ReplyDeleteFor my dad it's a double edged sword. Where he lives (small town in Georgia) he can be sued for not helping out since he's a police officer. Doesn't matter if he was off duty. He can also be sued if something happens during the rescue, even if it's something he could not have anticipated.
ReplyDeleteBeing a copy he's always going to stop and help out. It's just part of what he does. Still the thought has to be there that he hopes someone doesn't decide to sue him.
The deer raping the dog pic is wrong on so many levels. Love it.
ReplyDeleteSome people are just bitter scumbags. I'm sorry for the quadriplegic, but to sue somebody trying to help you is just wrong.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as for California, I was there a couple of times before it turned into the hell hole of politics it is today. Best thing to happen to us is that they'd secede.
That's one way to look at it. But I think the court is really making a distinction between Good Samaritans and Dangerously Dumb ones.
ReplyDeleteNot counting movie wrecks, how many car accidents have you seen where the car exploded? Absent a fire or leaking fuel (which was indeed the case), was the rescuer's fear the car would explode really a reasonable one?
If I discover you unconscious and crumpled in a heap at the bottom of a flight of stairs, I would not drag you from the building because I fear the building might collapse. Absent any indication that the building is unsound that fear is unreasonable.
If I did drag you from the building based on that unreasonable belief, and your injury was exacerbated into paralysis, you SHOULD be able to sue me.